Tasty Oasis | Page 6 of 9 | Finding Comfort In The Kitchen

Cooking Club: Caribbean Night

November 10, 2014 By Karen

A few weeks ago, I shared my Apple Cider Rum Punch recipe that I created for last month’s Caribbean themed cooking club (or supper club.) As I have written about before, I’ve recently started getting together with a new group of women once a month so that we can all get a chance to play in our kitchens. Trying new foods, recipes, techniques, or ingredients, we all want to expand our cooking skills and have a night out with friends while enjoying a gourmet meal. It’s meant to be low stress, and so far the first two nights have been a ton of fun.

Our recent meal had a Caribbean theme, and our host based her selection off of a gorgeous cookbook called “Caribbean Potluck,” by Suzanne Rousseau and Michelle Rousseau. Most of us had very little experience cooking from this part of the world, but after just one night we all felt inspired to explore this area more. Paging through this book, I can’t even begin to tell you how many dishes called out to me. One member actually made the appetizers from one of the preview pages that she saw on Amazon while “browsing” the book online. Spicy Back Bean and Corn Wontons With a Papaya Dipping Sauce marked her first ever foray into the world of wontons, and they were outstanding. They paired well with the cocktail I made, and it was a great start to the night.…

Roasted Honeynut Squash with Za’atar and Pomegranate Molasses

November 6, 2014 By Karen

During my lunch break this week I finished watching the fifth season of Parenthood on my phone. I am one of those lucky people that is doomed to never upgrade on Verizon because I refuse to give up my unlimited data plan. It’s UNLIMITED for heaven’s sake. Which means that I get to indulge in Netflix binge-watching to my heart’s content and not think twice about it. It may be completely frivolous, but it makes me happy.

Don’t get me wrong, I tear through books constantly: the good old-fashioned kind, e-books, and especially audiobooks. (All three links are what I’m currently reading right now.) As a kid, I’d get in trouble for staying up too late with a flashlight under the covers, reading way past my bedtime. (I know, such a rule breaker….) It’s been my escape for as long as I can remember. I read when I have down time at work, I read with my kids, I read on my own before bed, and I listen to “my stories” any time in between. With a long commute every day, I have plenty of time to become absorbed in other people’s lives, real or fiction, and keep it playing while cooking, doing the dishes and even grocery shopping. I can’t imagine my life without books, or the library for that matter.

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Apple Cider Rum Punch

October 23, 2014 By Karen

June Cleaver? Betty Draper? Carol Brady? Any housewife from generations past that’s waiting at home at 6pm in full makeup and heels for her husband to come through the door, ready to mix his favorite cocktail?

I’m so not these women. I typically walk through my own door close to that time, trying to balance my work bag, my little guy’s lunch box, sweaters, my coffee mug from the morning, and the giant stack of mail, all while trying to get the key in the lock and the alarm off while reciting for the millionth time, “Please go right upstairs, use the bathroom and wash your hands. With soap. Now. Don’t make me start counting. One, two, three, four….” Tired and hungry, my makeup-less face attempts to hold it together. My shoes are kicked off and left in the pile of footwear covering our foyer floor, and I head straight to my room for pajamas. Pretty dress and heels to greet Brian as he returns home? More like an oversized grey t-shirt that says “Stanford Special Olympics ’95“ paired with pink and yellow striped drawstring pants. I’m so fancy, right? (Just writing that makes me think of one of the funniest songs I have ever heard: “Business Time.” I just re-watched the video, and I dare you not to laugh.)

So on Monday night, when I offered Brian a cocktail as he walked in the door, he looked at me confused. “A cocktail? Now???” I should probably mention that we’re not big drinkers, and I can’t think of a time that we have ever come home from work and just had a drink. Yes, I love having wine with dinner, or with girlfriends on a Friday night, but it’s not really Brian’s thing. And sadly, an open bottle of wine is going to sit around for weeks unless I throw it into something I’m cooking. And mixed drinks have always been for restaurants and vacation in my mind. (I know, such foolishness!)

But on Monday night I was trying to create a cocktail for our Caribbean themed cooking club that was happening the next evening, and I was taking my task very seriously. I was actually an “alternate” on the assigned rotation, so I was covering for the member on beverages. She had a business trip, and generously offered to supply the wine, so I only had to bring a fun drink. But if you ever look up Caribbean cocktail ideas, you’ll know the options are endless, which doesn’t help someone who has a hard time making decisions….

Chewy Sesame Granola Bars with Dark Chocolate Chunks

October 20, 2014 By Karen

Have you ever watched your favorite movie or television show and felt envious of the soundtrack that magically enhances the lives on the screen? From the opening credits to a certain character’s theme song, the music changes the mood of a scene and influences your reactions as you watch. Well, my house seems to have a built in soundtrack. Okay, it wasn’t actually installed in 1928 when the house was first constructed, but with the brilliance of modern technology (otherwise known as our Sonos system that Brian controls remotely,) music miraculously pours through speakers all over my house when I least expect it.

Sunday morning, butterflies flew about my stomach as I mentally prepared to run my first ever 5K. Like I mentioned before, back in July I couldn’t even run for sixty seconds without huffing and puffing and feeling like I needed to collapse. After years of avoiding it, I embarked on the Couch to 5K program, and consistently trained for the first 9 weeks, working up to running nonstop for 30 minutes, which covered two out of the three miles I needed. But summer ended, the mornings have been dark, life got in the way, and I let my new found exercise routine slide. I’d been in denial that October 19th was just around the corner, the date of our town’s annual 5K. But sure enough it had arrived.

I’d been deep in suds as I attacked the dishes, worrying that I was going to be walking more of this race than I wanted to, when the music started playing and Melissa Etheridge’s “I Run for Life” pumped into my kitchen. Luckily, I’m married to a man who has the uncanny ability to pick just the right tune for every occasion. And although I’ve loved this song for years, I never would have thought to put it on myself. (Honestly, I’m the one always listening to audiobooks, NPR, and podcasts, and sadly music often falls off my radar.) Have you heard it lately? Well, if you lived on my block you might have heard me belting it out my kitchen windows at the top of my lungs early Sunday, because it changed my whole attitude about the day. Minutes earlier I had been anxious that I was going to disappoint myself, “failing” to run this race the way I originally intended to, but then Melissa reminded me why I decided to do this in the first place….

Cooking Club: All Things Israel

October 19, 2014 By Karen

A few weeks ago, I wrote about starting a new cooking club (also known as a supper club,) and gave a step by step guide on how to go about creating your own. If you missed it, you should definitely click on the link and see what the whole cooking club idea is about. The main idea though is that a group of friends gets together once a month to explore new recipes, techniques and ingredients so that we can all expand our repertoires in the kitchen. Our first gathering was in the middle of September, and the theme for the night was Israeli cooking. Having just gone to Israel for the first time this summer (a mix of work and pleasure, and I will be writing more about it soon,) I was eager to recreate the flavors of my trip and wanted an excuse to make something else from one of my new go-to books: “Jerusalem, A Cookbook,” by Yottam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi. Ottolenghi and Tamini are partners who come from two different parts of Jerusalem, one from the Jewish western part, and the other from the Muslim east. The foods they share reflect their different cultures and experiences, and their writing makes you eager to taste each dish. Filled with gorgeous photos, the recipes are ones that an average home cook can actually make with resounding success. There’s nothing intimidating about it, with flavor combinations that are creative, yet manageable. Even when there are specialty ingredients mentioned, alternative options are often suggested so that it is practical for everyday cooking. I’ve already shared a riff on their Turkey and Zucchini burgers, but the Tahini Cookie recipe in this book is also one of my favorites. I made it before I even had the book, thanks to a great post on the blog Eating From The Ground Up. Since I was hosting, I chose the theme for the night, but I didn’t expect that everyone would be cooking from the same book. But to my surprise, four of the dishes came out of it!

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Pumpkin Apple Noodle Kugel

October 13, 2014 By Karen

I know my last post was a bit on the heavy side, so I have decided to go easy on you today. This one is all uplifting, so sit back and relax. First of all, I have some fun news: despite (and who knows, maybe partly because of) the serious nature of what I wrote on Wednesday, people clearly are drawn to all the words in the title Brown Butter Brownies with Dark Chocolate Chunks, because they have gone wild for it on Pinterest! In just five days, almost 350 people have pinned the recipe! As someone who is just starting to learn about Pinterest, I find this kind of amazing. I don’t yet get exactly how the whole thing works, but am thrilled that people see the picture of these brownies and want to remember them. If you’re reading this now, and are one of those people, thank you! Every picture on Tasty Oasis is easily “pinnable,” so if you want to have a visual collection of recipes, pin away! It has boosted the traffic to this blog tremendously in such a short period of time, and even more people have subscribed to get emails about new posts. (Have you? It takes just a minute, and you’ll be notified every time something new comes out. You can click right here to do it now.)

A couple of weeks ago I posted a recipe for Noodle Pudding with Cinnamon and Raisins , also called kugel, which is a traditional side dish served at the Jewish holidays this time of year. Only slightly sweet, it’s a lightened version of an old family favorite, and one that I make year after year. But as luck would have it, later that same day I happened to see an article on Food52 called How to Make Kugel Without a Recipe, by Sarah Jampel. She has a great write-up about all the different ways you can take your kugel, and you should definitely check it out. But in one line she off-handedly mentioned pureed pumpkin, and all of a sudden my wheels started turning. Why had I never considered this before? It’s fall, and pumpkin recipes are everywhere! And then I thought about my other fall love: apples. So I had to rush to the store immediately for more noodles and got started on recipe testing. …

Brown Butter Brownies with Dark Chocolate Chunks

October 8, 2014 By Karen

It’s 8:27pm, and my big guy begs, “Just one more chapter??” He holds on to my arm and gets clingy, when all day long he’s been too cool to answer my questions or make eye contact. Three minutes to bedtime, and all of a sudden he wants to tell me all about his day and ask about mine, and then, out of nowhere, “Did Hitler shoot himself in the head? Why would anyone do that? I mean, for Hitler… well, I’m glad he did, but why would anyone else do that?”

He’s seven. My son is seven, and I am not ready to have this conversation. On so many levels.

A month or so ago, while reading a comic book with his dad, there was a reference to the Nazis, and Brian did his best to give a basic explanation. But last week he came home from his school library session with a book of historical fiction titled, “I Survived the Nazi Invasion, 1944,” by Lauren Tarshis. (Have you heard of this series? Apparently this one was just published this year, but there were eight before it, including “I Survived the Attacks of September 11th, 2001,“ and “I Survived the Japanese Tsunami, 2011.“ You know, light reading.) Did I mention he’s seven? A seven year old who’s curious, and has a lot of questions.

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Sweet and Spicy Chili Shrimp

September 29, 2014 By Karen

Hangin’ in there.

Busy, but good. Trying to figure out the whole balance thing.

Those are the two standard answers I’ve been giving people lately when they ask, “How’re you doing?” And by lately, I mean the last eight years or so. (Yay! Parenthood!) Yeah, sometimes I want to say, “Do you really want to know?” But come on, that’s reserved for the close friends and family who already know I’m crazy. “Hangin’ in there” typically means I’m trying to remember that things aren’t that difficult and that I need to get some perspective on life, because really, I may feel exhausted or overwhelmed (mostly from my own doing, but that’s another story,) but I know I’ve got to get over myself. The second line is my more “upbeat response,” but even that gives away the fact that I don’t have it all under control. (Surprise!) So I’m working towards being at a place in my life where I spontaneously answer, “I’m great! How are you?” I’m getting there…I’m definitely closer than I have been in a long time, but it’s taking a conscious effort. It’s recognizing and being grateful for the little things, as well as the big ones. (The big ones are too many to list here right now, but being healthy is one at the top.) Little ones are more manageable: chocolate babka with a candle in it delivered bedside on my birthday. A rainy day that let me spend hours reading with my 7 year old. Hearing him cry, “It’s not fair!!!! Why does the library have to be closed on Sunday?!?!” Kids that finally sleep through the night. (Which is not such a little thing.) Watching my niece clap her hands and realize she can make a whole room laugh with her. Having a dance party before bedtime. Getting a card from a friend that says “Shitake Happens.” Being able to run two miles without stopping. (Again, not feeling little. Maybe even feeling a bit huge.) Getting a haircut. And color…because the grays…oh, the grays.
And this weekend I went on an adventure with my guys, even when the list of things to do at home was endless. We’ve lived in New Jersey for 8 years, but had never been to Grounds for Sculpture down in Trenton. An outdoor sculpture park, they’ve got an incredible exhibit going on that is a retrospective of the founder Seward Johnson’s work. It felt like a summer day, and we spent three hours traipsing around, amazed by what we saw, especially his life-like sculptures. If you live locally, choose a date and go. It’s really worth your time.

We pulled back into our neighborhood though at 4:30pm. Worn out and hungry, I knew that the fridge was pretty bare. Needing dinner and fixings for lunches, I braved a quick trip to Trader Joe’s. (Let me tell you, as much as I love grocery shopping, Sunday evenings are not fun there.) So even though it wasn’t a work day, I still had the mindset that I needed a fast and easy dinner, because nobody was going to wait patiently while I fussed in the kitchen. It’d been a while since I’d made this sweet and spicy chili shrimp dish, but I knew it took little effort and has a huge payoff in flavor. I grabbed a bag of frozen, pre-cooked shrimp that were already peeled and deveined, an extra knob of fresh ginger, and some limes. Twenty minutes after unpacking the groceries, we were sitting down to eat, that’s how simple this meal is. It’s a recipe that is only slightly adapted from one Mark Bittman wrote for the New York Times about street food in Singapore exactly nine years ago. I’ve been making it ever since, but I have adjusted the measurements for the sauce so that there is plenty of extra to spoon on top of the brown rice and broccoli I typically serve it with….